


The Hole Under the Slide

by Adel Mortescryche (Mortescryche)



Category: Bleach, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Bullying, Child Sawada Tsunayoshi, Crossover, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Good Big Brother Kurosaki Ichigo, Hurt/Comfort, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post-Canon, Protective Kurosaki Ichigo, Whump, and was written as an excuse to get bby!Tsuna to interact with a teenage Ichigo, because the kid needed more sensible people looking out for him when he was tiny okay, this is literally just a Ichi-nii-to-the-rescue fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 20:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortescryche/pseuds/Adel%20Mortescryche
Summary: Tsuna's far too used to being picked on by his classmates. He's always been too slow, too quiet, and too likely to burst into tears when pushed far enough. This is the first time anyone's really cared, though.(Or: Ichigo might look scary and talk like a jerk, but his need to protect people tends to win others over, as always)





	The Hole Under the Slide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SSAerial](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSAerial/gifts).



> Thiiiis. Probably shouldn't be treated as a very serious fic. It got written when I'd been considering a longer KHRxBleach crossover, except that project turned into something completely different from this one! But I still had this left behind. It got posted to Tumblr a while back, **[here](https://adelmortescryche.tumblr.com/post/166010882779/the-hole-under-the-slide)** , but this is me finally making the crosspost!
> 
> It might never have seen the light of day if it weren't for a conversation I had with the absolutely darling SSAerial/@aerialflight.
> 
> I'm not going to bother with a trigger warnings section for this one, because there are none outside the bullying and the whump. Maybe little children being little children. But, mind the tags, hm?

The hole under the slide was small, too small for more than one person to crawl into, but that was good. Tsuna was happier that way. It meant that no one else could come in after him. The opening was so tiny that no one else from his class could even think about coming in, and definitely not the boys who followed him home every day.

They’d been following him home again today. Calling him names. Hana-sensei had told him to ignore them, that they would get bored and go away if he didn’t do anything, but they kept getting worse. He’d come back from the toilet yesterday and found his notebook missing. And the day before that, he’d opened his locker to get his outside shoes and found them dripping with water. Today he’d heard one of them say that Dame-Tsuna was so weak that he’d probably start crying if he fell down, and the other boys started laughing, and Tsuna couldn’t take it anymore.

So he ran.

The boys had laughed even louder, and their voices were scary. And so loud. Then one of them yelled, and they’d all started running after him.

Tsuna ran and ran, and he kept running, but the boys kept running after him. When he found the park, he saw the slide, and remembered that the slide near home had a tiny hole under that you could crawl into and hide. He used to play hide and seek with his Mama there, when he was small. So he ran in, and found that the slide here had an even tinier place than the one near his home. He had to force himself in.

And it hurt. He got cuts on his hands, and he hit his head and his shoulders. And he scratched his knees. Everything hurt. And it took so long for him to get in that the boys caught up to him. One of them caught his bag, and pulled so hard that he almost got tugged out again. Tanaka-kun, the one who’d said he looked pretty enough to be a girl on the first day of class and had laughed loudly, because they were  _boys_ , not girls, and any boy who looked like a girl had to be a sissy.

Tsuna screamed, and kicked back, and shook so hard that his bag slid down his arms and then it was Tanaka-kun who was falling back, Tsuna’s bag still in his hands. The other boys were laughing, for once laughing at Tanaka-kun and not at him. Tsuna pushed himself as far back as he could, and pulled his legs up and pushed his face into his knees, trying not to cry. Papa had said that big boys don’t cry, and Tsuna was a big boy.

Right?

Tanaka-kun screamed and yelled, first pushing his arms into the hole to try and drag Tsuna out but when he found that the space was too small for him to follow, he snarled and pulled back. Then he shook Tsuna’s bag and Tsuna could see his notebook, the new notebook that Mama had bought for him when he said he’d lost his, fall down. With his scale and his pencil. When he saw Tanaka-kun start tearing pages out of the book, and the other boys giggling and reaching for his scale and pencil, he couldn’t hold it in anymore and wailed.

His Mama had bought that book! And those boys- those boys-

“OI!”

Tsuna’s wail cut off with a squeak. He hadn’t thought that anyone one else was nearby. He shivered and wrapped his arms around his knees, trying to curl himself into a tiny ball. Hoping that whoever was coming wouldn’t notice him and go away.

He looked up when he heard Tanaka-kun yelp, and found him sitting on the ground and holding his head, tears pouring down his cheeks. Tsuna blinked, and felt a little proud. He’d wanted to cry so badly, and he  _hadn’t_ , and now Tanaka-kun had started crying so quickly!

“Whatever the hell you brats are doing here, you’re done.  _Scram.”_

Tsuna shivered again. That voice sounded so loud. Louder than the boys who followed him. And it was so  _irritated_. It reminded him of the boy he’d met one day with his Mama in the supermarket. He’d had black hair, and black eyes, and he’d frowned so hard at Tsuna that Tsuna had squeaked and hid himself in his Mama’s skirt. He heard the other boy’s Mama say sorry and pull him away, but Tsuna hadn’t let go of his Mama’s skirt until they were back home.

He heard the boys outside scream, and when he looked up again, he saw his book falling down and all three boys running away. Then he saw a pair of legs walk in front of the hole, and the new person crouched down, arms hanging loosely over his knees as he reached for Tsuna’s little book and his small orange bag.

Tsuna couldn’t stop the sound he made. Those boys had already spoilt everything – he didn’t want this old person to make it worse!

He wished he  _had_  stopped it when he saw the way it made the man outside turn around to stare under the slide. Tsuna tried not to whimper when he saw the face. The man had a scary frown on his face, and… It wasn’t a man. It was a boy. And older boy, but it was still a boy.

Tsuna was horrified. A man he didn’t know was scary, but other boys were always worse. They always laughed at him.

“…Is there someone down there?”

The question didn’t sound like it was for Tsuna, and anyway, Tsuna didn’t want to talk to him. He didn’t want to talk to  _anyone_. He wanted his Mama. He wanted to go home. And he didn’t want to go to the school anymore; it was a scary and bad place!

When he looked up from his knees this time, there was a big hand reaching into the hole.

He couldn’t help himself. He screamed.

The boy outside cursed loudly, and pulled his arm out again.

“Oi, it’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you. You want to try coming out?”

Tsuna ignored him, and curled up again. And tried to keep as quiet as he could. Maybe like Hana-sensei said, if he’d ignore him, the boy would ignore him and go away. Even if the other boys hadn’t left him alone, maybe this one would.

After sometime, he uncurled himself and looked up again. He wasn’t really surprised when he saw that the boy outside was still there, sitting cross legged on the ground, one hand out and stretched towards Tsuna’s hole.

Tsuna  _really_  couldn’t stop himself this time.

“Go away.” He whispered.

The hand wasn’t pulled back. Instead, the boy outside pointedly shook it at Tsuna.

“If I was going away, I’d have gone long ago. Come on out, brat.”

Tsuna shook his head hard.

“No!”

“Kid…”

“I’m  _not coming out._  Go away!”

The boy kept quiet. But he didn’t move. Tsuna frowned at the hand that way still there, open and waiting.

They sat like that, the two of them, for an hour. May be two. After the first few times, the boy seemed to understand that Tsuna wouldn’t come out unless he wanted to, and just didn’t ask any more. Tsuna almost felt sad. It was nice, having someone ask him something again and again, even when he told them to go away. No one in class wanted to talk to him, and Hana-sensei had to talk to everyone else too. Mama was always there, but she usually left him if he didn’t want to do anything. She didn’t talk to him if he didn’t want to talk to her. He always  _did_  want to talk to her, she was his mama, but she never forced him to talk if he didn’t want to.

When he thought that, and thought about how it was getting dark outside, and how Mama would be waiting for him, he couldn’t help the tears that fell down his face in big round drops. Papa said big boys don’t cry, but he also said it was okay to cry if he was crying for his favorite person. And Mama was his favorite. And she would be  _looking for him_ , and he was still here, in his hole, and he didn’t even know where he was!

It was only when his sobs became loud enough for the boy outside to hear them that there was any change. This time, when the boy reached in, Tsuna kept crying and reached out too, putting his hand in the big one in front of him. It curled around his hand immediately. Not tight, and not hard. But so warm.

The hand carefully tugged him towards the opening of the hole, and Tsuna found himself slowly crawling out. He didn’t hit his head this time, because there was another big hand in the way, held at the top of the hole to stop him from crashing into it.

He looked up into the frowning face of the big boy, tears running down his face.

The older boy sighed, looking uncomfortable even through his frown, and patted him on the head, then on his back.

“Okay, okay. You’re fine. And you’re not under the slide anymore, so that’s something, right?”

Tsuna  _wailed_ , and threw himself into the white shirt and tie in front of him, and the boy made a loud ‘Oof!’ sound before he set a big hand on Tsuna’s back and let him cry.

Later, when Tsuna had stopped crying and they had tucked his book and scale and pencil back inside his bag, Tsuna stared down at the ground, feeling very shy.

The boy helped him wear his bag again, and put a hand out for Tsuna to hold onto.

“So, what’s your name?”

Tsuna looked up quickly, into the boy’s big brown eyes, and looked down again.

“Tsuna.” He mumbled.

The boy squeezed his hand once.

“I’m Ichigo. Come on, let’s see if we can get you home. Your mom must be waiting for you.”

Tsuna nodded, still staring at the ground. His mama  _would_  be waiting for him.

“Do you know where you stay?”

Tsuna shook his head. He knew how to go home from his school, and Mama usually came to pick him up, but he’d told her to stop, because he was a big boy and could come home on his own now. His school wasn’t very far from home, but… when he’d started running to get away from the boys from class, he’d run in the wrong direction. And now he didn’t know where he was.

Tsuna heard Ichigo sigh, and shrunk in on himself. He really  _must_  be Dame-Tsuna if he couldn’t even help the older boy take him home. It was  _his_  home, after all.

“Oi, come on. None of that. Stop looking so sad.”

Tsuna blinked, and looked up at him. Ichigo was still frowning, but Tsuna didn’t feel scared. Ichigo was a nice person. Even with his messy orange hair and his scary frowning face, Tsuna  _knew_  he was a nice person. He’d known ever since Ichigo had helped him out of the hole. Only a nice person would wait so long to help him.

“Do you know the name of your school?”

Tsuna blinked again, and his face scrunched up as he thought and he thought. Then he remembered standing and reading the name of the school with his mama on the first day of school. It was there in big letters on the wall beside the gate of his school.

“Namimori Elementary?” The words left him in a rush, his voice rising up at the end, a little surprised that he actually remembered.

Ichigo kept frowning down at him.

“Is that a question or an answer, now?” he asked.

Tsuna shook his head wildly, and raised his free arm to wave up and down.

“No, no! An answer!”

And Tsuna didn’t know what he’d done right, but he wished he’d done it earlier, because a small smile slowly replaced the frown on Ichigo’s face. And the smile made him light up like the sun. Tsuna couldn’t help but give his biggest smile back.

He could help! He wasn’t ‘dame’ after all!

When they were half way back to the school (and he  _knew_ they were halfway there, Ichigo said so), Ichigo gave a loud whistle.

“How’d you end up all the way back in that park, brat? It’s got to be more than a kilometre away from your school. And you’ve got such tiny legs.”

“No I don’t!”

Ichigo just laughed at him, and Tsuna pouted, looking away.

“I don’t.” he repeated in a sullen voice. The big hand holding his squeezed down warmly, and Tsuna turned his face back up, continuing to pout.

“And I wasn’t thinking about how far it is. I just ran. And I kept running until I found somewhere to hide from those boys.”

Ichigo looked confused.

“What boys?”

Tsuna  _stared_  at him.

“Tanaka-kun and his friends!”

“Who now?”

Tsuna huffed and looked down again, swinging their locked hands back and forth.

“Those boys you yelled at when you came to my hole.”

Ichigo’s hand suddenly tightened on his, and stopped them from swinging. He stopped walking, too. Tsuna stopped and looked up at him, confused.

“Those boys were chasing you? All the way to the slide?” Ichigo asked him, the frown back on his face. Tsuna nodded, still confused.

He was even more confused when Ichigo sighed, louder than before. He didn’t even get a chance to ask about before Ichigo suddenly dropped his hand.

Tsuna was horrified, wondering what he’d done wrong, when Ichigo suddenly wrapped his hands around his waist and lifted him up.

Tsuna squealed, automatically reaching out to steady himself on Ichigo’s shoulders. Mama didn’t usually carry him anymore, Tsuna insisted that he was too old to be carried, but he didn’t think Ichigo would listen even if he wanted to be put down.

“It’s faster this way,” Ichigo explained gruffly, without being asked. Tsuna nodded back, just happy that Ichigo was holding him up against the shoulder that didn’t have bag straps slung over it.

No more was said between them, Ichigo simply walking faster while Tsuna was left to cling desperately to his shoulder and neck, trying not to lose his balance and fall down. He didn’t think he would, Ichigo was holding him in a firm, confident grip, but he didn’t want to fall down by mistake. He’d look so silly in front of the older boy.

By the time his school gates came into view, Tsuna was half-asleep, his face bundled up into the crook of Ichigo’s neck. The older boy had done nothing to stop him, so Tsuna had found himself burrowing into the warmth. He didn’t notice where they were until he heard a familiar voice cry out.

“Sawada-kun! Oh, thank goodness!”

Tsuna started awake, and would have fallen right down if Ichigo hadn’t shifted his arms to steady him.

“H-Hana-sensei?” he mumbled sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. He pulled away from the arms reaching for him, more comfortable where he was.

Ichigo slowly patted him on the back, trying to make him let go, but Tsuna held on tightly. He just put his head down again, pressing it into the older boy’s neck. He felt Ichigo’s chest and throat vibrate with a low laugh, and he gave a small smile back, even if Ichigo couldn’t see it.

He kept quiet through the explanation going on above him, Ichigo telling his teacher and the other school staff what had happened, and only looked up when he heard another familiar and much more welcome voice call out for him.

“Tsu-kun!  _Tsu-kun!_ ”

He jerked upright again, struggling to be put down.

“MAMA!”

Ichigo let him go without any fuss, and Tsuna found himself crying all over again. He didn’t feel bad about the tears running down his face because Mama was crying much harder than he was. Her whole face was pink, and he didn’t feel like much of a big boy when he understood how much he’d made her worry.

He let himself be swept into a hug, his mama falling down on her knees and pulling him close. She held him so tight that he nearly couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t care, hugging her back just as tightly.

“I’m never letting you walk back on your own again, you hear me, Tsu-kun!” she said, still crying, but also starting to laugh. Tsuna only nodded into her chest, not complaining at all. He wasn’t a big boy. But he would be one day, and then he’d ask to be allowed to come back on his own again.

When they finally stopped crying, Tsuna looked up to see Ichigo still waiting, that same small smile on his face that made him light up like the sun. He quickly pulled his mama up and towards the older boy. Mama didn’t even tell him to stop, a bright, happy smile on her face.

“Oh, I don’t even know how to thank you. I’m Sawada Nana, Tsu-kun’s Mama.”

Tsuna watched Ichigo wave his hand, his face going a little pink.

“It’s nothing; anyone would’ve helped in my place. I need to get going, my curfew’s coming up.”

Tsuna squeaked and hung onto his Mama’s skirt when Ichigo suddenly crouched down to look him in the face.

“And you. Brat.”

Tsuna shrank back. Ichigo was a nice person, but his frown was  _scary_.

“The next time you’re running from someone, either run home or run towards someone who can actually help, okay? Don’t just keep running without some place in mind.”

Tsuna nodded wildly, eyes big. Ichigo kept frowning at him, but the frown was different now. Less scary, and more… Tired. But he stood up before Tsuna could say anything about it.

When Ichigo was almost out the door, his mama pushed him in front. He looked up at her, confused, but she only nodded at Ichigo’s back, the smile still on her face. Tsuna blinked, looked at Ichigo, then back at her to nod seriously.

“Thank you, Ichi-nii!” he called out. Ichigo stopped suddenly, and he turned to look over his shoulder, a shocked look on his face. He almost looked like he’d seen a ghost. The look was gone so fast that Tsuna almost thought he was seeing things.

“Aa. You’re welcome.” Ichigo said. He gave one last, warm smile, waved over his shoulder and then he was gone.

Tsuna turned back to his mama and raised his arms, wordlessly asking to be lifted up. His mama laughed and pulled him up without any complaint.

“Your Ichi-nii’s spoilt you, has he?” she asked teasingly. Tsuna went red and looked down. He didn’t say anything while his mama finished talking to his teachers, only waving at Hana sensei when she called out to him.

He was thankful to Ichigo. But he didn’t think he’d ever call him Ichi-nii if they met each other again. The older boy had looked too sad when he’d been called that. Tsuna nodded to himself, and smiled up at his mama when she said they’d be having hamburger for dinner.

He’d call Ichigo  _Ichigo_. Friends used each other’s name, after all. And even if Ichigo hadn’t said anything, he was sure the older boy would agree with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the fluff! Doesn't it make your teeth ache? Oh Ichigo. *laughs wryly*
> 
> **Consider leaving kudos and comments!!** As always, I would love to hear what you thought while reading this! Don't you think we all need a brother or friend like Ichigo in our lives. And isn't bby!Tsuna adorable.
> 
> \---
> 
> For anyone interested, the next new post from me will be: an FMA oneshot I fondly call my Wrath!Roy AU, from my backlogged works on Tumblr.
> 
> You can find me **[@adelmortescryche](https://adelmortescryche.tumblr.com/)** \- come by and say hi! I don't bite.


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